Hey guys! Our second feature video "Safety and Care" is about the duties of Nora Harwood’s security unit on Planet Eden. Like every modern mega-corp, EverReach employs its own personal security task force to handle company-related emergencies:
https://youtu.be/X-gKICG7TDw Well-equipped and well-trained, its soldiers travel as needed between EverReach’s properties on Earth and their colony efforts on space stations and other worlds, serving as a mix of company muscle, tech support, and triage whenever there is a need.
The Zeus Hoverbike
EverReach Security consists of two informal “divisions”: standing security, who serve as permanently stationed security officers at EverReach colonies and installations, and task forces, small elite squads of 3-5 people who travel as assigned and deal with any crisis on EverReach property. Many of these are actually related to mechanical or technical issues: a factory explosion, a spaceship failure, a dropped communication, for instance.
The Thermal Blaster
However, given multiple bad experiences involving rival company saboteurs and anti-corporate protesters, EverReach restructured so that every task force would include both technicians to solve mechanical issues and combat specialists to put down any hostile activity.
Nora Harwood is such a combat specialist. She’s well trained in weaponized combat, can handle various manned vehicles, such as the Zeus hoverbike and she’s also equipped with the latest generation Thermal Blaster and the XR-90 Rifle to handle extreme cases.
The XR-90 Rifle
In the name of EverReach Industries and our Security Division, we welcome you to Eden! EverReach, putting the stars in reach!
Secret Eden Log #3: "Creating an Extraterrestrial Planet"
Hey guys! Our third "Secret Eden Log" elaborates on the creation process of Everreach: Project Eden. Creating the world of Eden has been a massive undertaking for an indie team like ours. It all started with a prototype version of the 3rd person controls where you could explore an empty grassland terrain.
The very first screenshot from Everreach: Project Eden, 2016 September
Nora’s hair and clothing were just a placeholder at this point and other than walking around on an empty landscape you couldn’t do much. After that it was time to build our environmental assets and a brand new landscape to explore. And this is where the real challenge began.
Every single plant, every blade of grass had to be created from scratch. The goal was to design a custom armor for Nora and also fill the world with all kinds of plants, animals, waterfalls, cliffs and make it as much of a living, breathing environment as our budget allowed.
Early concept art of Nora’s armor
In the next 5 months or so our team has designed over a dozen alien plants. We’ve also integrated numerous tools to help with level design, such as a tool to easily be able to „draw” rivers onto the landscape as well as be able to import our own custom trees into the game, which would then be affected by wind.
In February 2017 we already had a nice-looking environment and a functional 3rd person control system for Nora. Still, we had a long way to go. Nora’s controls had to be polished, and we needed to, you know, make the actual game.
Our first environment, February 2017
The majority of 2017 was spent implementing most features at a basic level. We had an early version of the game’s skill tree back then, we’ve built the foundation of the UI, we’ve added enemies that used the environment to their advantage to play against you, and the first few dialogue options were also available.
Arguably, one of the biggest features of the game is the skill tree containing over 80 upgrades. This is most likely the feature that went through the most changes throughout development. Luckily, we’ve built a tool early on where you could easily add or remove skills from this tree and our system would automatically handle skill prerequisites and rendering the skills along with how they are connected and which ones are available.
The game’s extensive skill tree with over 80 upgrades
In early 2018 we’ve reached a point where the Zeus hoverbike needed to be added to the game. The Zeus hoverbike is an important part of the game as it helps Nora traverse between certain locations.
Once the hoverbike was in, it became possible to start adding other biomes to the game. Throughout the remainder of development we’ve added forests, a swamp, grassy plains, other outposts and a massive desert area. During this time we kept polishing the controls and balancing the skills as best as we could, allowing multiple ways to upgrade Nora’s character.
A month ago the game reached a near-finished state. We delayed the game’s release a bit further so we could polish the controls, add an aim-assist option, and put the finishing touches on a game that we’re very, very proud of.
Hey guys! Our second "Secret Eden Log" deals with planet Eden. It is one of the few habitable planets in our galaxy and the first EverReach Industries deemed worthy of colonization. It has a unique biosphere and diverse biomes like deserts, forests and caves, where you stumble upon hidden loot and optional story elements scattered throughout the environments.
EverReach Industries is the leader in planetary exploration and colonization building an exclusive luxury settlement in outer space for its wealthy customers. A team of scientists, mechanics, and construction workers are all working planetside, creating a network of settlements and cities for future colonists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGte3_hli30&feature=youtu.be Unfortunately, due to unforeseen complications on-site, the official opening date has been slightly delayed. A team of highly trained specialists has been dispatched to Eden to evaluate the situation and restore regular operation as soon as possible.
This is where your story begins. Take on the role of Nora Harwood, Lieutenant of Everreach Industries' Security Division specialized in extraterrestrial operations, on a mission to secure the colonization process of Eden. Experience the intriguing story of Everreach: Project Eden, explore the vast alien world and discover the secrets of a long-forgotten civilization. Throughout the story, there are several decisions for Nora to be made. People will remember and react to your choices, and these will also bring you to different endings of the game.
Everreach: Project Eden is a Third-Person Action RPG including a classical level system mixed with a variety of choices given by a skilltree with over 80 upgrades and special skills. Level up, spend attribute points and gain perks and bonuses through the skilltree. Choose your own playstyle, whether you want to deploy forcefields to take cover, speed up your attacks or overload your shields to do massive damage to all nearby enemies, it's all up to you.
Exploring a whole planet alone and on foot could prove a little overwhelming. The supporting unit drone 73-Q is at Nora's side whole the time, giving field support and assisting her. Besides that, you’re also equipped with a hoverbike and the Everreach security standard issue XR-09 Rifle as well as a Thermal Blaster. Strengthen and modify your weapons with perks from the skilltree to increase the ammo capacity, upgrade your weapons to deal armor piercing damage or activate special abilities and use your skills and to outsmart your opponents.
Hey guys, I’m Ede Tarsoly [Twitter], lead designer and founder of Elder Games. Before the development of Everreach: Project Eden began, Elder Games had mostly been a one-man army with the occasional help from freelancers. I have slowly been working towards my goal of developing third-person action games, but I quickly realized that this is not something I can hope to accomplish alone. So, in 2016, I began recruiting a team.
Gábor Menyhárt Gábor has helped out numerous times with my projects in the past, and with his 16 years of experience (and counting) in 3D modeling, texturing and even 2D art, it made perfect sense to hire him as the lead GFX artist. It was his job to make sure the visual world of Everreach: Project Eden is coherent and built with care. He also produced numerous visual assets of the game himself, including the main protagonist’s armor and the UI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmRxoVpXEA Michelle Clough [Twitter] I also approached Michelle Clough, game writer and former narrative QA for the Mass Effect trilogy. The story concept of Everreach: Project Eden was mine, but Michelle wrote the entire script herself. She gave it a real heart and soul and truly brought the characters to life.
Ferenc Szücs Next to join the team was Ferenc, a world-class animator and level designer with over 14 years of experience. He helped us out with many of the main protagonist’s animations as well as some of the level design in the game.
Rich Douglas [Twitter] A composer known for Lifeless Planet and the Evochron series, Rich has written roughly one-third of the game’s soundtrack, helping me out in the early stages of the game, when I had to focus on setting up the game’s core systems. Rich’s music has also defined the tone and style of the entire soundtrack, as I’ve tried my best to keep his fantastic blend of 80’s synth and cinematic symphonic style in the rest of the songs.
So there you have it, we are the five core members of Elder Games. Programming, the rest of the music, most of the level design and directing are all my responsibilites, and I’ve also hired numerous freelancers for various tasks related to the game, including Mai-Anh Tran, who worked on the visuals of the WarCraft and Star Trek movies, as well as D.C. Douglas, voice actor for Wesker in Resident Evil and Legion in Mass Effect 2.
Me composing music for Everreach: Project Eden
We’ve got a fantastic team and working together has been absolutely phenomenal. I cannot describe how amazing it has been to see a game like this slowly come to life. And now, we’re hoping to release it soon and show you all what we’ve been up to these past 3 years.
Within the next weeks till release we will publish various updates, that dive deeper into different elements and aspects of Everreach: Project Eden - so stay tuned!
"I am excited to play Everreach when it comes out this fall!"
We recently showcased Everreach: Project Eden at our booth at PAX West in Seattle with a fresh playable demo, showing the first 30 minutes of the game. Also the guys from Rectifiy Gaming and Stack Up came by to get their hands on the futuristic weaponary of the sci-fi action RPG!
And Stack Up liked what they saw: "Everreach: Project Eden strikes me as a similar game [related to the film "Oblivion" with Tom Cruise], in which we have a skilled female soldier, Nora Harwood, facing a strange enemy and uncovering a vast story. I am excited to play Everreach: Project Eden when it comes out this fall!"
Rectify Gaming summed up that the "[...] majority of viewers accepted the title to plausibly be the game that takes the helm for sci-fi adventure titles from BioWare."
You find Stack Up's article HERE and the one of Rectify GamingHERE.
gamescom is over and now PAX West is around the corner! There are just a few days to go! If you want to take a deeper look and try our action RPG Everreach: Project Eden for the first time, let's meet in Seattle at PAX West, Floor 6, Booth #7216!
After three years in development, we are very proud to finally reveal Everreach: Project Eden, a fast-paced, story-driven 3rd person action RPG set on the visually stunning Planet Eden. You won’t have to wait long as Everreach: Project Eden is coming out im September 2019!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmRxoVpXEA
You play as Nora Harwood, member of Everreach’s Security Division, on a mission to secure the colonization process of Eden and investigate mysterious incidents. Explore this vast alien world and descend into the planet’s depths to discover the ancient secrets of a long-forgotten civilization.
